After LCD Flagship Phones Disappeared, Small Tablets Became the More Realistic Choice

Preface

This is my first post of 2026—time to finish the unboxings I never got done in 2025.

The small-tablet category has always been controversial. Some people roast it for perfectly combining the downsides of being too small at home and too big to take outside. For me, though, in an era when LCD flagship phones have completely vanished, a compact high-performance LCD tablet has instead become the most reasonable alternative.

I previously wrote about my experience with the iPad mini 7: This iPad mini 7 may be Apple's last small LCD-screen device. I didn't expect that to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I already had a bit of a hunch at the time, and it was confirmed not long after: the iPad mini 8 is basically confirmed to get OLED.

Seeing the internet full of people looking forward to an OLED mini, as a die-hard LCD fan I could only quietly cross that option off my list.

So the question became: If I want a device with a comfortable screen, performance that isn't too weak, and something I can still carry around, what's left?

The answer finally landed on this—the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4.

Y700 Gen 4

The iPad mini is nice, but Apple really doesn't put much effort into the software for this small-screen device. A lot of apps aren't well adapted, and the performance has actually fallen behind.

Lenovo's Y700 Gen 4 small tablet is something I'd been wanting for a long time. The Qualcomm 8 Elite processor is plenty powerful, and it also supports storage-card expansion.

But I could never snag the government subsidy, until one day in October I saw someone in a group chat share that they'd grabbed it on Douyin.

I immediately went and tried to grab one too, and finally got it 😄. I bought the 16+512 version, and the price I paid was around 2500.

I've been using it for over two months now, and aside from making phone calls, it has basically replaced that laggy, overheating old LCD phone, the iQOO Neo5 Vitality Edition.

Packaging

Let's look at the pictures first. Specs and performance comparisons are at the bottom of the article.

The packaging still has a lot of character. Guess I've joined the Legion club now 😄

On the back, there's even a Dolby certification? A bit unexpected, though I didn't really notice anything when actually playing music 🤣

Unboxing

Very minimal. Open the box and you're looking straight at the tablet.

Accessories

Charging cable and ejector pin.

Charger.

Warranty certificate, ejector pin, and quick start guide.

The stock charger is 68W.

The Tablet

For items bought with the government subsidy, you have to unbox, activate, and take photos when receiving the package.

So this counts as a fake unboxing 😄

Let's just peel off the protective film and take a look.

I went with the white version. This generation's white finish feels pretty decent. All-metal body, no cheap feeling in the hand, and it feels solid.

Front (accidentally overexposed—the fill light was too bright 🤣)

Powering On

These bezels are so much more comfortable than the iPad mini 7's!

On a device this size, leaving a bit of bezel really does make accidental touches and the grip experience a lot better.

Into the System

The default wallpaper is pretty nice. I originally thought Lenovo would have that kind of old-people system UI, but this software looks better and is more usable than I expected.

Sides

There's a speaker on each of the left and right sides, and the left side also has a Dolby logo.

There's a Type-C port on the right. Unfortunately it's USB 2.0, so it's only good for charging.

The top has a microphone, a card slot, and buttons.

The bottom is a full-featured C port that supports USB 3 speeds. Pretty nice 👍

I quite like the dual Type-C design—you can plug a portable monitor into one and charge from the other.

Back

Personally I can live with the camera module on the back. At least it's not ugly 😂

For a tablet, as long as the camera can scan QR codes, that's enough.

Specs

The Y700 Gen 4's specs this time are basically stacked to the max:

• Snapdragon 8 Elite
• LPDDR5X Ultra RAM
• UFS 4.1 storage
• 12000mm² 3D triple-channel VC cooling

Among tablets already released in 2025, this combo is solidly first-tier.

Beyond the usual performance upgrades, this generation also actually listened to feedback:

• Higher screen resolution and touch sampling rate
• Removed the plastic screen bracket, making the body thinner and lighter
• Brought back the microSD expansion that was cut from Gen 3 (up to 2TB)

It's not just more fun for gaming—everyday smoothness, expandability, and portability are all clearly improved.

Compared with the Previous Generation

I gathered some specs from the internet and made a comparison table for reference.

Back in 2025 I would have said: if you're torn between Gen 3 and Gen 4, just go for Gen 4 if your budget allows—it's less hassle.

Now it's already 2026, and Gen 5 will probably be out soon, so maybe wait 😄. Then again, considering RAM and SSDs have gone up in price recently, Gen 5 probably won't be cheap.

Wrap-up

A lot of people buy small tablets for gaming, but I mainly wanted one as a phone replacement.

In a time when LCD flagships have gone extinct, an LCD small tablet has instead become a pretty good alternative: the screen is easy on the eyes, the price is reasonable, the performance is solid, and most importantly it's still portable.

This Y700 Gen 4 can barely fit in a pants pocket (though it really messes with walking). I usually keep it in a sling bag instead. The weight is well controlled, so you barely notice you're carrying an extra device.

You can pull it out anytime when you're out (as long as it's not awkward)—though there's nothing really awkward about it. It's just a slightly bigger phone 😄

Beyond everyday phone use cases, a small tablet is also great for reading books and comics. This is where Android's openness shines—there are tons of novel and comic apps to choose from. If I get the chance later, I can put together a separate post on setup and recommendations.

Oh, and I previously saw people on Bilibili complaining that Lenovo's software is hard to use, but then…

That's another advantage of Lenovo's small tablets—you can unlock root and tinker however you want 😄

I don't need it for now, but the urge to tinker is already stirring. Maybe after a while you'll see a rooting write-up from me haha 🤣